Issue 00009 - Excellence Often (actually, almost always) Creatives tension
Welcome to 5 Bites – The BLTnT Newsletter!
Intro
As you know I’m reading the book by Michael Erath, the 5 obsessions of elite organizations and I’m loving it…in it he reminds us that Nick Saban once said:
“Mediocre people don’t like high achievers, and high achievers don’t like mediocre people.”
It’s blunt, but boy is it true. Excellence has a way of exposing the gap between those willing to push and those who settle. That gap always creates tension. It’s a reminder of something we explored in our issue 00005 “Know thyself” when I referred to a book my buddy, James Hall, recommended called Beyond High Performance by Jason Jaggard.
High performers and achievers think, act, and live differently — and not everyone around them is comfortable with that.
But here’s the thing: if you want to pursue excellence, you have to accept the friction that comes with it. Jesus even pointed to this reality when He said
“I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)*
*I learned about this one recently…and it initially was very unsettling…more about this later…
Choosing a higher standard often divides — because you can’t cling to mediocrity while also stepping into excellence. You have to “leave and cleave” to a new path. – be sure to read the entirety of this in the footnote…and tell me if you think he was OK with tension! Here are five reflections on why excellence always creates tension:
Bite 1 – Friction Is the Price of Excellence
If nobody resists you, you’re probably not moving fast enough or pushing hard enough. Growth creates discomfort — in you, and in the people watching you.
Bite 2 – Mediocrity Sees High Standards as Threats
When you raise the bar, people who don’t want to jump will resent you. Not because you’ve done anything wrong, but because your effort exposes their complacency.
Bite 3 – Excellence Requires Tough Choices
Leaders can’t always hold everyone together. Sometimes excellence means separating achievers from those who refuse to rise. That’s not cruelty — it’s the other c-word…CLARITY (what the heck did you think I was gonna say?!!!).
Bite 4 – You Can’t Want It More Than They Do
You can inspire, encourage, and coach. But you can’t drag someone to excellence against their will. At some point, they have to choose the work.
And coaching or helping someone who doesn’t want it is just plain INSANE (or it will drive you there…I PROMISE!)!!!
Bite 5 – Surround Yourself with the Right People
Excellence is sustained by community. You need people who welcome high standards, not those who resent them. Build around those who raise the bar with you.
Jason Jaggard, in Beyond High Performance, reminds us about the TEAMS around us (remember from issue 00005) AND that the greatest barrier to growth isn’t mediocrity — it’s the arrogance of limited success. Excellence divides, yes, but it also tempts us to settle and become complacent. Meta-performance begins when you reject settling and keep asking, ‘What more am I capable of?’
If those around you aren’t thinking similarly, we need to ask ourselves, “is this really going to work out?” — I DOUBT IT!!!
Business Leader Bonus Wisdom
Erath reminds us that settling for “good” or “good enough” – The Trap of Contentment will always put you on what Cameron Herold, former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and founder of the COO Alliance, refers to as the “Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster” where you feel like your creation has turned against you and is maybe even trying to destroy you!
Biblical Bonus Wisdom
Jesus’ words remind us that real transformation often begins with division — a cutting away from the old, so something new can grow. Choosing excellence means leaving mediocrity behind.
Footnote:
Matthew 10:34–36 (NIV):
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”
(Boy, do you think He was okay with tension?)
Wrap-Up
Excellence will never be universally accepted. It challenges, exposes, and sometimes divides. But that’s the point: tension is proof you’re stretching into something better.
The question is simple — will you shrink back to make others comfortable, or will you step forward and embrace the friction?
Hey, maybe you are CALLED by the big GUY to excellence…ever think about that?? And when you’re called to excellence, don’t be surprised when mediocrity resists — thanks for the warning, Nick!
Until next week…Excelsior!!!
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